Tobacco-plant-bed burner.



No. 841,817. PATENTED JAN. 15. 1907.

J. D. & H. F. FLOWERS.

TOBACCO PLANT BED BURNER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.23,190B.

' chemical substances.

unrrnn STATES r'rnr JOHN D. FLOWERS AND HENRY F. FLOWERS, OF ADAIRVILLE,

KENTUCKY.

TOBACCO-PLANT-BED BURNER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 15, 1907.

. Application filed April 23,1906. Serial Nn. 313,241.

Our invention relates to apparatus for burning the soil ol' tobacco-plant beds [or the purpose ol' destrovmg loreign seeds and other deleterious substances, including cert am Our object is to provide a device of this character which shall be simple and durable f in construction, readily portable, and capable oi being operated at the minimum cost.

lleretoiore it has been the common practice to use wood as a inel wherewith toburn tobzwcmplant beds, which practice, owing to the growing scarcity oi" wood, is comparatively expensive, a large quantity ol' wood being needed to treat any considerable acre- 'age, and by our invention we greatly reduce this cost. by the improvedoil-burning appa ratus hereinafter described and claimed,\\'ith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure l is a perspective view showing our improve-d apparatus applied to a bed; and Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the burner.

Referring to the drawings, in which like parts are indicated by the same "reference characters in bothviews, the numeral 1 designates the burner casing or hood, open on one of its sides, in which is mounted a series of pipes 2 extending longitudinally thereof, and connected with a transverse pipe 3, from which the said pipes 2 extend in opposite directions. Stay-rods l connect the sides of the hood 1 and serve. to strengthen the whole. structure. The pipe 3 is connected with the oil-supply pipe 4, which is connected by a flexible section 4 with a branch pipe 9 on the tank 5, through which supply-pipe 'a mixture of oil and air under pressure passes from the oil-tank 5, said mixture issuing from the pipes 2 through perforations 6 therein in the iorm of jets, which are ignited and form the heating flames for burning the soil on the bed,- (indicateil at 7.) The hood or casing 1 is provided with suitable handles 8, by which it may be transported and placed in proper position with its open side downward to direct the flames onto the soil, said burner being moved by said handles from place to place over said bed until the entire surface has been covered.

'lo i'urnish a mixture of air and oil under pressure, I provide the oil-tank 5, with which the supply-pipe i communicates, through a branch pipe S), connected to the tank, through an opening in the top thereof and extending downwardly into the said tank to a point near the bottom. Pressure is maintained in the reservoir or tank 5 above the oil therein by means of an air-compressor, consisting in the present instance of an air-pump of any suitable lorin'and of any desired number of cylinders 10, three being shown in the drawings, the puinprod 11. of each of which cylinders is connected to a crank on a drivingsha lt 12, operated by any suitable power,

hand-wheels 12%, provided with pins 14, being shown as a convenient means for operating the said pump by manual power. The cylinders 1t) deliver compressed air through outlet-pipes 1*" b branch pipes 17 to a common 'e 138, opening into the top of d isehargi the tank above the oil therein, so as to discharge compressed air into the, tank above the liquid. This compressed air serves to maintain the required pressure in the oil-.

tank and also supplies the necessary amount of air for admixture with the oil through the medium ofthe air-nozzle 19 opening into the tank above the oil therein and communicating with the oil-supply branch pipe 9 through a coupling 20, having a valve 21 thereinfor regulating the amount of air mixed with the oil issuing fromthe tank and passing through the oil-supply to the burner. The delivery or discharge pipes 15 have each a checkvalve 22 therein, closing against backflow of compressed air, as usual in air-pump structures, and all the parts of the air-compressing and oil-"supply apparatus aIB'HIGIIHiJGd upon a suitable base or platform 23, provided with handle-bars and nnfunted on Wheels 24, so that tlrc sani' 'inay be readily portable by hand from place to place as the burner is moved over the plant-bed to be treated, the flexible pipe-section 4 permitting a certain range of movement of the burner Without changing the position of the air-compressing and oil-supply apparatus.

' By the use of our apparatus it will be noted that. the heat of the flame issuing from the plurality of perforations 6 uniformly distributed will be uniformly directed onto the soil, and thus quickly and efiectually destroy the deleteriousforeign seeds and other matter.

We are aware that it has been proposed to provide an oil-burnixi device for use in burnmg tobacco-plant be s, and while We do not claimsuch a device broadly we wish it under stood that we recognize the fact that changes may be made in the details of our inventionas here-in described and. claimed without detin from the s =irit of the invention with' W s. P

in the ts of the claim hereto appended, and, therefore,

-What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent 0f the United States, is'- An apparatus for burning tobacco-plant beds, comprising a portable baseor platform, an -o il-reservoir and air-compressing device thereon, said air-compressing apparatus arranged to deliver compressed air into the reservoir above the oil therein, an oil-outlet pi e series of perforated pipes therein whose per- 7,

forations are so disposed as to direct flames therefrom upon the soil, and a flexible supplypipe connecting said perforated pipes with the oil-outlet pipe of the reservoir.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of I two subscribing witnesses.

- QHN D. FLOWERS. HENRY F. FLOWERS.

Witnesses:

TYLER CALHOUN, FRANK A. SMITH. 

